Perfect
by PanicMoon15
Summary: Jess is upset and Nick does what he can to comfort her, revealing something he didn't intend to along the way.


#11

Perfect

She was crying. Nick couldn't be dealing with this now, he was so tired after his ridiculously long shift at the bar and he was in a bad mood after some guy claimed to have given him a twenty when he _knew_ it was a ten. But there Jess was, sat on the couch, head in her hands, weeping quietly. Nick sighed and quietly closed the front door to the apartment behind him; he couldn't see Jess upset, it stirred something inside him which he had tried to keep hidden for the past five months he'd known her.

"Jess?" he asked, slowly walking towards where she was sitting.

Her head popped up in alarm and her muscles quickly relaxed as she realised who it was. A watery smile appeared on her mascara streaked face and Nick's chest constricted at the sight. He couldn't stand to think that someone had upset his Jess. _His_ Jess.

"You okay?"

"Mmhmm" she nodded, lips quivering as a fresh wave of sobs began to wrack her slender body.

"Oh, Jess. Come here" Nick dropped his bag and sat down next to Jess, pulling her into a hug. She held onto his t-shirt, staining it with tears; not that Nick minded. He tucked her head under his chin and began to rock her back and forward, rubbing her back soothingly and gently placing kisses on her raven hair.

After a few minutes of the two hugging, Jess' sobs had slowed to gentle hiccups and Nick decided now should be the time to ask her _why_ she was so upset. "What happened, Jess?" he almost whispered into her ear, her head still situated on his chest.

"I-it's nothing" she stammered, still clinging onto Nick's t-shirt.

"Don't lie to me, Jess. Don't make me get the feeling stick" he joked gently, evoking a small, but prominent giggle from her.

"You don't know where it is" Jess teased, still holding onto Nick.

"Sure I do. Here it is" Nick reached over Jess' legs and handed her the 'feeling stick'.

She laughed and pulled back from him slightly to look at him properly. "That's the TV remote"

"No. _That's_ the 'feeling remote'" he clarified "And whoever is holding the feeling remote must tell their true feelings"

With his arms still around her, Jess looked down at the remote in her hands, running her thumb over the rubber buttons. Well, she had to give Nick points for imagination, and she _did_ make the rules for the feeling stick. Taking a deep breath and keeping her eyes locked on the 'feeling remote', Jess began to speak. "I ran into Spencer today"

"Oh, Jess" Nick tightened his grip on her slightly, forcing down the waves of jealousy which he refused to admit were currently bubbling up inside him.

"And he said 'Hi' to me, so I said 'Hi' back and then he…he…" she trailed off, suddenly being overwhelmed with the thought that this was not the thing she should be discussing with Nick of all people.

"Jess?" he prompted, a worried look in his eyes. Nick lifted her chin so he could see her properly. "He didn't…hurt you or anything, did he?"

"No, no, nothing like that"

"Because if he did, I'll kill him with my bare hands. I promise"

"Thanks for the offer" Jess smiled "But he didn't hurt me. It was just something he said, upset me a little" Nick nodded for her to elaborate "Well, we got to talking and then I wanted to leave. I don't want to see that slime ball ever again, so I made some excuse about having to go and he accused me of…"

"What?"

Jess attempted to stop more tears from streaming down her face with a deep breath before continuing "He accused me of cheating on him when we were dating…" Nick's mouth fell open. Jess, having an affair? It was the most ludicrous thing he's ever heard. "…with you" Correction, _that_ was the most ludicrous thing Nick had ever heard.

"He thought you were cheating on him with _me_? How dare he!" any shock Nick had experienced a few seconds before was now being replaced with absolute anger and hatred of Spencer. "How dare he! He himself, cheats on the most perfect girl in the universe with a cheap little slut and then accuses _you_ of doing the same"

"What?" Jess asked quietly, pulling away from his embrace completely and running through what Nick had just said in her head in an attempt to make sure she had heard him right.

"What?" Nick copied.

"You called me perfect" she said slowly, still not sure if that was _actually _what he had just said.

A deep red blush began making its way up Nick's neck as he realised what he had just unintentionally admitted to Jess. He looked at the floor, scratching the back of his head awkwardly as the 'feeling remote' made its way into his lap. He smiled to himself; Jess really was something else.

"Did you mean it?" Jess asked quietly.

Nick gripped the remote, mustering up all of the courage he could and looked straight at Jess. Jess, who was sat next to him, brows furrowed, chewing her bottom lip, cheeks streaked with slowly drying tears, and just beautiful in every way.

"Yes" he smiled, abandoning the 'feeling remote' to take both of her hands in his. "You _are _perfect" Jess blinked and fresh tears slid down her porcelain cheeks. "No, no, Jess. I'm sorry, please don't cry" Nick panicked.

"They're happy tears" she smiled. "No one has ever called me 'perfect before'"

"Oh, well, that's good then" Nick said lamely, mentally kicking himself for having nothing better to say. "But you believe me, right?" Jess glanced away shyly "Don't listen to Spencer, he wouldn't know perfection if it bit him on the ass" she giggled then "You _are _perfect, Jess. And gorgeous, and beautiful, and brilliant, and creative, and fascinating, and sometimes really annoying, but then you smile at me and I forget why I was annoyed in the first place. And sometimes when you think I can't hear you, you sing your little heart out and you sound so amazing that I just stop what I'm doing to listen." Jess was grinning widely, failing to blink back tears; Nick took this as a good sign and continued to voice the things he had been saying to himself for months. "You have no idea how much you mean to me, Jess Day."

"I think I do" Jess smiled, lifting her hand to stroke Nick's face, rubbing her thumb over the stubble. "Because you mean everything to me, too."

"Really?" Nick whispered, pressing a kiss to the palm of her hand.

"Really really"

Nick grinned widely and pulled Jess close to him so that her face was mere inches from his. He could feel the ghost of her breath washing over his lips. "Oh, thank God" be breathed in relief, crashing lips down on Jess'. She really was perfect and Nick made a promise to himself as he kissed the woman of his dreams, to tell her that every day.


End file.
